


Looked Like a Veiny Barrel

by drystates (drygrasses)



Category: Guild Wars
Genre: Gen, I swear those two are always dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-26 13:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5006854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drygrasses/pseuds/drystates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fiennén had heard of Morgan’s Spiral, though he’d never been. </p>
<p>Some described the curiously formed spiral in the sand, half filled with water. Newly awakened, Fiennén didn’t quite understand this phrase and had asked what the other half was filled with. “Risen,” his mentor replied, completely straightfaced.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looked Like a Veiny Barrel

Fiennén had heard of Morgan’s Spiral, though he’d never been. 

 

Some described the curiously formed spiral in the sand, half filled with water. Newly awakened, Fiennén didn’t quite understand this phrase and had asked what the other half was filled with. “Risen,” his mentor replied, completely straightfaced.

Others spoke of the magical orchid that grew at the very center of the spiral, bright and beautiful and somehow unsullied by the corrupted soil and briny water. “Double whammy of corruption, too,” said the Warden Fiennén had asked about it, shaking her head sadly. “What with Risen washing in from the Sea of Sorrows, and the Nightmare Court den just up north, it’s a wonder anything grows there.”

One traveler in the Starbower Nursery had engrossed half the bar with his story of a run-in with a mosquito as large as he was, just south of the Spiral. Fiennén had become morbidly curious at the descriptions of the mosquito’s fleshy red thorax that “looked like a veiny barrel, man, it was gross.” The rest of the bar crowd had looked over when the man nearly punched his friend in the face trying to demonstrate the insect’s wingspan. 

Once the commotion had settled down (though a few people looked disappointed it wasn’t a real barfight), the man continued. “Bloodsucker that size woulda drained me dry,” he had said soberly, despite the fact that he was on his fifth beer. Someone handed him another drink, and he tipped back the dregs in the mug he had been holding before starting in on the new one. “I was lucky she was so slow. Probably weighed down with the blood of an entire village or something,” he added, though it took a few tries to get the words out in the right order. He wiped off his foam mustache.

Fiennén had wanted to point out that sylvari don’t have blood and a mosquito would have to fly to Kessex to find a village of people who did, but in the next minute the man started snoring and the crowd dispersed.

 

But all these, interesting as they might be, were figuratively and literally overshadowed by the massive, levitating boulders scattered over a hundred vertical feet with apparently little regard for the laws of physics. For those brave enough, Ruadhain had told him, there was a path to the top, and at the top, there was treasure. She got a sparkle in her eye and Fiennén was intrigued, but Ru’s generally boisterous mannerisms became even more violent than usual as she talked about the treasure, so he just said “uh, sure,” and edged away before one of her flailing limbs smacked him. Again.

Personally he never intended to try climbing the boulders. He could barely trust his footing on solid ground, much less anything hanging in the air. Even Rata Sum made him nervous (though Ru would point out that everything made him nervous), and Rata Sum at least was powered by generally dependable asuran technology. So far no one he’d asked had known what made the boulders float, so he wasn’t about to risk climbing just to have them drop out of the sky.

 

Today’s trip, however, was encouraged by the gorgeous weather and the assurance of Warden Duvalla, who had heard from the wardens at the Spiral that the orchid was blooming and that it would be well worth the hike out even just for a look. 

Nervously, Fiennén adjusted the strap of his hammer as he walked and wondered if Risen were particularly susceptible to guardian fire. The undead were supposed to burn well—apparently their joints and things quit working when lit on fire, go figure, and it was a convenient way to get rid of the corpses littering Sleive’s Inlet—but these Risen would be freshly washed in from the sea, and maybe the seawater would make them too soggy to burn. Fiennén shuddered at that mental image and hoped it wouldn’t come to that.  


According to his map he was only a half-mile from the Spiral, and once he crested this hill he’d be in sight of the—oh, by the Tree, those were really rocks and were _really floating_ —

Fiennén’s eyes widened as his gaze drifted over to two bodies crumpled at the edge of the overlook, his attention shattered. Instantly he dashed over, dropping to his knees beside the pale orange sylvari woman. She groaned and tried to turn over, or maybe sit up, and Fiennén wanted her to stop—he knew that _she should not be moving what about C-spine injuries Mender Serimon said_ —but he only managed a nervous fluttering of the hands in the vague vicinity of her shoulders. Luckily she slumped back down without any interference and cracked an eye open briefly, only to shut it again against the glare of the sun.

“Hey, hey, stay with me, alright?” Fiennén’s hands continued to flutter over her, checking for major injuries. Besides some smudges of dirt, she looked to be fairly intact, which was a blessing considering the number of Risen usually trolling Morgan’s Spiral. Judging by the lumpy pile of gray flesh a few steps away, it _had_ been Risen that had attacked her and the other sylvari, whose armor showed him to be a Warden. He was still out cold, so Fiennén focused his attention on the woman in front of him.  


She groaned again, but this time when her eyes opened, they stayed open, and she squinted up at Fiennén.

“Er, hi,” he said tentatively, not really sure what the protocol was for this sort of situation. “I’m Fiennén, are you—are you alright? I don’t think you should be moving yet, you might have hurt your—”

“I’m fine,” she interrupted, gently knocking Fiennén’s hand out of the way and sitting up. “Just a few bruises, is all.” She turned the squint on the sodden gray corpse beside them, which was steaming gently under the rays of the bright sun. “…’S probably the smell that got me more than anything. I’m Galidrun, thanks for the assistance.” She sniffed, then looked like she regretted it.

“…Alright,” Fiennén conceded hesitantly. She did seem mostly okay, sitting in the grass as if she had been intending to spend her afternoon in the company of an unconscious warden and a stinking Risen corpse. “Nice to meet you, Galidrun, though I’d have wished it under different circumstances. I’ll just, uh, help your friend over here?” He shuffled to the side of the Warden.

 

At his words, Galidrun stiffened, suddenly snapping out of the vague haze of having just woken up. She jumped up and ran—  


—straight past her friend, not even stopping to check on him.

 

Fiennén stared at her, baffled. She was standing at the top of the ridge, looking intently in the direction of the floating rocks. “Aren’t you going to…help?” he asked, looking between Galidrun and the still unconscious sylvari he was bent over. He wondered if the warden had something contagious and if he should stop touching him.  


“Hmm?” Galidrun said, briefly glancing back at the prone form. “Oh, no. I don’t think I will.”

Fiennén gaped at her.

“I’m sure Lochlain will be fine,” she said distractedly, having turned back towards the Spiral. “I need to keep an eye out for anyone trying to climb Morgan’s Spiral today.”

“What, you aren’t even—I mean, it’s dangerous here, what about the Risen? Shouldn’t you keep an eye out for—or, we need to wake him up or get him somewhere safe, this really just doesn’t seem like the time? Are you even fine, you were unconscious just a moment ago,” Fiennén said, sounding rather strained. The sentences came out completely jumbled; he was so bewildered he couldn’t even voice his concerns one at a time.

“Look, I already may have missed someone in the time I spent just lying around,” Galidrun replied testily, not taking her eyes off the hovering rocks. “This happens all the time and I’m tired of having to wait around for Lochlain to wake up too. He’ll be fine, just leave him alone.” It slowly dawned on Fiennén that getting knocked out by Risen as many times as she apparently had had probably done something to her head. 

Perhaps sensing that Fiennén was judging her, Galidrun turned back around to face him and sighed. “I haven’t climbed the Spiral yet and I want to learn some good techniques, okay? Besides,” she snorted, ”it’s way more fun to watch the brave heroes who climb the Spiral than to look at Lochlain all day. That’s like watching a leaf wither.”  


As if sensing her unkind commentary, Lochlain chose that moment to wake up.

“Oh, hello, I’m Warden Lochlain,” he said, extending a hand to Fiennén, who was still crouched over him. Fiennén stopped gaping at Galidrun to gape at Lochlain’s hand instead. After a moment he shook it, though it was a little awkward considering Lochlain’s horizontal position. 

“Thanks for your help,” the Warden said warmly, before turning away and forgetting about Fiennén entirely. “What was it this time, Galidrun? Just one Risen? Ooh, that’s a little embarrassing. No worries though, if it was just one then you couldn’t have been out long, probably didn’t miss anyone.”

Warden Lochlain had stumbled to his feet and joined Galidrun on the outcropping of rock. Fiennén just stared at their backs.

 

For all the stories he had heard about Morgan’s Spiral, no one had ever mentioned the _people_.

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> What our favorite ko'd Morgan's Spiral NPCS say in-game:
> 
> **Warden Lochlain:** I have feeling we all may share a grand adventure this day. 
> 
> **Galidrun:** I enjoy watching brave heroes try to climb Morgan's Spiral, though I've never tried it myself. 
> 
> I think it's hilarious that whichever of the two you revive first will completely ignore their fallen comrade and leave you to do the reviving. They need to learn some of the teamwork of the Priory folks in Godslost, who at least stop to help you keep their partner from drowning in the swamp water.
> 
>  
> 
> Once I tried to take Fiennén up Morgan's Leap, and a random person even stopped to help me out in case I fell. After five hours I had only gotten high enough to die falling once, and that was on my second try. My JP buddy spent the entire time laughing at me. Another time, Fiennén was going to jump off a vista into the water, but somehow managed to trip spectacularly and faceplant on the rocks below instead. Good times.


End file.
